Richard Wilbanks and his little dog Gunner share a special bond. Dogs and their humans usually do. With these two, however, their bond was put to the ultimate test recently, and they passed with flying colors.

On a Sunday morning in late October, Richard and Gunner were walking by a pond near their home. What neither of them knew was that an alligator was lurking nearby.

The 4-foot gator lunged out of the pond and grabbed Gunner in its jaws.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Richard jumped into action and went after the gator.

“It was like a missile,” Richard described the incident. “We were only about 3 feet away from it, but it struck like a snake. It had Gunner in a vise grip and I just rushed in.”

Richard and his wife Louise moved to Estero, Florida 4 years ago to be near their son Grant. They are originally from Texas, where one doesn’t have to worry as much about alligators.

The couple are nature-lovers and have spent the last 4 years growing plants in their backyard. Richard enjoys seeing all the wildlife in the area, including bobcats, deer, turkeys, and more.

“It’s wonderful to be able to share our lives with the wildlife,” he said.

Richard even noted that the alligator that grabbed his dog is still out there as well.

Update on Gunner’s Condition

Once Richard was able to pry Gunner free from the alligator’s jaws, the gator bit down on Richard’s hands. He then had to pry himself free as well. Gunner and Richard both were dripping blood as they made their way back to the house.

The couple took Gunner to the animal hospital. Amazingly, the little guy was doing just fine. They found a puncture wound but X-rays revealed no internal damage aside from having a little water in his lungs. They kept him a few days in the hospital to recover.

Gunner is back to his normal self now.

He has as much energy and zest for life as he ever did. One change, however, is that Richard picked him up a new leash for their walks.

“A new leash on life,” Richard quipped.

Richard’s daring rescue of Gunner was only captured on video due to cameras that had been put up in the area by the Florida Wildlife Federation and the fstop Foundation. The organizations use the video recorded by the cameras to track wildlife in the area.

“I’m pleased with the job they do,” Richard said of the Florida Wildlife Federation. “And this lets people know we can live with wildlife.”

FWF’s Meredith Budd spoke about the lessons the incident involving Richard and Gunner can teach people about living in harmony with wildlife.

“Humans and wildlife, we both inherently share the same landscape and homeowners who live in and around nature should understand the value of wildlife around them,” Budd said to USA Today. “While this video was shocking and I’m glad everyone was OK, I’m glad it’s a learning opportunity for the importance of respecting wildlife and taking precautions to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.”

In Southwest Florida, wildlife and humans share many of the same spaces. Interactions between humans, our pets, and wildlife are common. Richard only has one piece of advice for people from the area with pets they love: Leash your dog and stay 10 feet away from water.

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Source:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/11/24/florida-man-saves-puppy-from-alligator-jaws-shares-update-dog/6404437002/